Did anyone notice the Dec. 19 legal notice in the Agassiz-Harrison Observer informing the public that the Seabird Island First Nation (SIFN) plans to remove 12 hectares of land from Sasquatch Provincial Park? Nice that the notice went in over the Christmas Holiday season when everyone is too busy to pay attention to such matters.
The SIFN representative I tried to contact at the Tamihi Logging phone number has not replied to my inquiry. However, a little sleuthing revealed that FVRD and the Village of Harrison Hot Springs were well aware of the proposal.
It appears from the published maps that SIFN wishes to pull the road allowance out of park’s jurisdiction from just North of Trout Lake to three-quarters of the way between Hicks and Deer Lake then swing South towards Moss Lake along a less used road.
The purpose of the “boundary adjustment” is to allow for the use of existing access roads so that logging equipment can develop and harvest timber in an area south of Sasquatch Park. Now isn’t that going to work well for the 275 000 people who annually like to go up to Hicks and Deer Lake to camp and hike?
Ever met one of those huge tree- harvesting machines or even a loaded logging truck on a gravel road? I have and it’s not fun! And logging often goes on seven days a week!
SIFN representatives say if they have not been contacted by Jan. 31, 2014 then they will assume that we have no concerns. If you do contact:
Ted Holtby
Seabird Island First Nation Representative
42255 Arnold Road
Chilliwack BC V2R 4H8
604 823 4830 ext 103
ted.tamihilog@shaw.ca
Respectfully,
Janne Perrin
Harrison Hot Springs
President, Chilliwack Field Naturalists Club
www.chilliwackfieldnaturalists.com